Fool's Hope
by zookitty
Summary: Tag for Bloodlust. It is better to be a fool with hope than a fool without one


**AN: **This story is close to my heart, Bloodlust is one of my favorite episodes and I thought Sam could use a little TLC after it. Poor dear. I fully believe what the statement about hope--you'll know what I mean when you get there--and try to live by it. Hope is so important. Ok enough preachin

Beta by the amazing Moogs!

* * *

Sam carried Lenore gently out of the old farmhouse. Her frail and nearly limp body in his arms felt so very…human. He carefully laid her in the back of the Impala, charily securing her before getting in the drivers seat.

"This is nice," she whispered almost lethargically from the back seat and he felt a small smile ghost across his lips.

"_Chicks dig the Impala," _he remembered Dean saying ages ago. Apparently that went for vampire chicks too. His smile faded as he felt his split lip protesting. That Dean—his Dean—was gone. Sam could only pray that it was not for good.

A moan from the backseat pulled his thoughts back to the present and he started off, listening to her whispered directions as she guided him to where her clan intended to meet. It was a short ride back over the bridge, and off onto a side road before they reached it.

Lenore struggled with the door, but Sam was there to catch her before she took a dive into the dirt. He scooped her back up with ease, noting how trustingly she wrapped her arms back around his neck.

As he walked into the depths of the woods a growl reached his ear.

"Hush Nicholas, he is with me," Lenore admonished, managing to sound in control even with her weak voice. Begrudgingly the Fang stepped into Sam's eyesight.

"He's a Hunter," the Vamp growled.

"Yes, he is," Lenore replied, giving him a pointed look. She turned her eyes back to Sam. "You can set me down over there." She nodded forward, and he continued until the woods thinned out. He walked hesitantly into a circle of vampires. The teachings of his father screamed at him to get out of there; but his father wasn't perfect…and not always right. "Don't worry Sam," Lenore whispered encouragingly, "You're still not our type." He smiled slightly at the easiness with which she spoke to him. Lenore trusted him, and he found himself returning the favor.

He lowered her to a fallen log as carefully as possible, his eyes glancing around. There were boxes and some undefined objects lying over by a few trucks. If it had not been in the middle of the night at the center of a woods Sam would almost have sworn that this seemed like any other moving preparations he had seen.

There were about fifteen vampires, not including Lenore and the one that growled at him before. None of the other Fangs had spoken to him, most preferring wary glares.

"Do you have any medical supplies?" Sam ventured to ask. One of the younger looking vamps nodded. As she returned with a box he got a closer look at her. She looked to be about sixteen—though for how long she had been sixteen he could only guess. Her hair was a gentle auburn and her eyes seemed to spark with life. With her fangs retracted and her gentle smile, she did not look so different from a _normal _teenage girl.

She kneeled beside her leader, cleaning Lenore's wounds with a soft touch. Lenore smiled gratuitously.

"Bring a bandage for Sam's arm also," she instructed. The younger vampire nodded and began rooting through the box.

"I'm alright," Sam protested.

"You saved my life Sam Winchester," Lenore urged, "Let me at least play a bit more gratuitous a host this time." Her grin was just short of a laugh. It was strange but Sam had never imagined vampire's having a sense of humor before.

Several other vampires had come forward to tend Lenore and she already seemed to be improving. The girl returned then, taking Sam's arm. He cringed slightly as her cold hand touched his wound, and found himself watching her warily. He trusted Lenore, but even she had struggled with the smell of his blood. The girl just smiled softly.

"Don't worry Sam, I just ate," she told him, smirking as he cringed. Lenore clicked her tongue.

"Don't tease him Elizabeth," the leader scolded lightly. Sam grinned; he was seriously going to have to edit this story when Dean asked about it later.

The girl finished up with his wound. A beat passed before Lenore pushed herself up, brushing off Nicholas's attempt to help her.

"We need to leave," she instructed her clan. Her eyes returned to Sam. "Can we trust your brother to keep Gordon at bay?"

"You can trust him," Sam replied, surprised at his own lack of hesitation. Even after everything that had happened between them lately, Sam knew Dean would not let him down this time. Lenore nodded, not once questioning his judgment. Sam felt honored.

She gave instructions to the vampires, before turning back to him.

"I had hoped we could avoid the hunters, stay under their radar," Lenore remarked, her voice wistful. "I'm starting to wonder if peace isn't a fool's hope."

"I never thought hope was foolish," Sam replied honestly. She smiled, grasping his uninjured arm.

"I knew when I saw you, that you would be the one to listen," she informed him. "That is why I sent them after you." Unnoticing—or ignoring—the blush on his face she continued, "You are a good man Samuel Winchester. You and your brother as well." Sam gave a wistful smile, the pain barely hidden beneath it.

"Yes he is." And he meant it.

Lenore bowed her head slightly.

"Until we meet again." She turned, her black locks flowing behind her.

--

Sam leaned back into the old familiar Impala, the familiar riffs of Metallica floating around him. He glanced at the driver's seat and the man sitting there was almost familiar too. Sometimes Sam wondered if it was a fool's hope to think his old brother was coming back.

_"I'd rather be a fool with hope than a fool without one." _Jess used to say to him, that beautiful smile gracing her lips.

Sam rubbed absently at his bandaged hand.

"Does it hurt?" Dean asked, looking at him with a look so familiar Sam almost laughed out loud. Though he managed to catch the laugh he obviously let a smile slip because Dean's expression shifted from concern to confusion. "What?"

"Nah, it's fine," Sam answered. Dean gave him a dubious look, his glance dropping to the bandage.

"When did you do that?" the older Winchester asked.

"One of the vampire's wrapped it," Sam explained, grinning at the look of shock his brother was giving him.

Maybe it was not as much of a fool's hope as he thought.


End file.
